a cat and a dead robin
by Venus Vance
Summary: "out of all the Bats, I wouldn't have expected you in a thousand years, Baby bird" Selina smirked coming out hiding, weighting on the words 'baby bird'. She remembered Jason well, from before his death, she also remembered the nick name she had given him after a mission which he accepted happily. (a jason todd/ selina kyle fic)


The night had gathered over the city. Slowly casting shadow over the inhabitants of Gotham city. The most crime ridden city on the planet but not without its saviors, its guardian angels, or rather its guardian…bats!

Selina was careful not to set off any alarm and as good as she was, it wasn't any difficult at all. Slipping pass the laser beam, applying the very old movie trick of face powder, she was now standing inches close to her prize, the Gem of Tarawa. It didn't even take a minute before Selina's razor sharp claws cut through the protective glass and she fled with the gem now in her belt. How this Frances creep got his hands on it wasn't really Selina's concern. He definitely stole the gem, and Selina stole it from him, simple as that. Out the window and onto the rooftops, her way home was clear. She knew the bat was out of town that's why she choose to strike today. A satisfying grin on her face as she leaped from one building to another. A minute later she came to realize a presence following her, and considering she was on the rooftops, her stalker's identity narrowed down to one. It was their game, the cat and the mouse, he was supposed to be out of town but Selina never complained about being chased so she jumped down the roof into the dark alley, but when the other body jumped own, Selina was gob smacked. The figure neither wore a cape or a cowl, but a helmet, and a leather jacket. And Selina knew all too well which birdie this particular person was.

"Come out Selina, save both of us the time, I'm as Uninterested in this as you are" the red hood called out calmly stepping in the light.

"out of all the Bats, I wouldn't have expected you in a thousand years, Baby bird" Selina smirked coming out hiding, weighting on the words 'baby bird'. She remembered Jason well, from before his death, she also remembered the nick name she had given him after a mission which he accepted happily. His death had surely struck her, and everything else after, but he had never confronted her like this before, this was probably the first time they were talking, after he'd come back, on a spot that wasn't the battle field.

Before Jason could retort, the sirens of the GCPD alarmed both of them and without word, they moved, out of the alley, down the street and onto a rooftop, away from the search.

"Looks like Frances found out" Jason said dusting off his jacket.

"That never stopped me, so why are you here baby bird, if you tell me you're here to bring me to justice…" Jason's huff cut her off

"The Bat is out of town-" Jason started

"I know that"

"….and Dickie bird broke a leg, I think. I was summoned by his _high and glorious batbutt majesty_ to help out, and even though I had no intention of stopping you, he specially called to tell me where you'd strike and what you were after' Jason finished taking out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one up.

"So you still do you daddy's bidding. You're still the same old fluff, baby bird" Selina's smile grew and her mischievous look remained

"Don't you think 'baby bird' isn't the right name anymore" Jason said carelessly, one hand on his crouched knee as he watched the street below

"I would change my mind about calling you that, if I was convinced you aren't the same person now as you were then" Selina ginned still at her spot.

Jason barked a laugh, almost bitterly. "The Robin you knew died, if you didn't hear Selina, I am _not_ the same person"

"so, are you gonna try and stop me?" she asked fixing her gaze on his eyes, the smile still plastered to her face, smile that made Jason uncomfortable, a smile that screamed out danger.

"if I was calling the shots, I would have let you get away with that and then some, he stole it, you stole it from him, not really theft if you ask me, but I'm not calling the shots" Jason replied now facing her, looking slightly annoyed

A smile crawled over her face that told Jason she was about to run, and she did. In a second, she was on another roof then another, Jason sighed and followed. This was getting ridiculous and he was considering just letting it go and punch Bruce in the face if he gave him a hard time later, but he was still following her. From one roof top to another, the game went on, enjoyable for Selina, but pissing Jason off. As the little bird chased him memories flashed back, taking Selina about 5 years back, to another night, mostly like this, rooftops, just like these, and a Robin on her tail, except that time, she had no gem to protect, she was simply having fun. The little Red bird followed her as their giggles filled the air. Maybe after an hour, they were both siting on a rooftop, their legs folded, a few bags surrounding them, Jason slurped into his slushie while Selina slowly ate her fries one by one. For most of the time they were silent, watching the city from one of the tallest buildings in Gotham.

"Did you know I once robbed that house?" Selina asked pointing to a big house on 5th street.

"No way!" the little Robin's eyes widen in disbelief "but that belongs to Gonzolas! He's so dangerous"

"Never stopped me, and I didn't eve steal anything valuable, I was just curious so I broke in" Selina turned to the boy smiling at him as he listened to her slurping his drink.

"That's so cool, what did Batman do?" Robin asked now stuffing his face with fries.

"He chased me" she said plainly

"But didn't catch you?" Jason asked with hope in his eyes.

"He didn't catch me" Selina winked at him.

he always liked Selina, even though Bruce always got angry at him for spending too much time with her and told her to stay away, but Selina was so nice to him, she was fun to hang out with, she brought him food when they met, and they'd sometimes play tag on the roof tops, mostly when Batman was out of town, Selina always made him feel safe, and even though she was a criminal, and a thief, and did most of the thing Batman and Robin fought against, Jason never fought with her. Selina too, never stole anything when they were together; she just hung out with the kid and never gave him a reason to fight her and even acknowledging the fact how Bruce gave Selina the warning look every time he found them together, Selina never stopped hanging out with him. Sometimes, when Jason had little fights with Bruce, he'd come to Selina's apartment and she'd make popcorn for him and they'd watch a scary movie, or something Bruce didn't let Jason see. Jason would fall asleep on her couch while Selina ran her slim fingers in his hair, then she'd carry him back to the manor and sneak him to his room. Jason always woke p when she carried him, but pretended to be asleep. Once when bane broken Bruce's ribs, and Alfred was out of town, Selina had came over to watch over him, and no matter how much she went against the man, Bruce would always welcome her. When Selina finally got Bruce to sleep, she and Jason went down to the manor's armory, and messed with everything there, which no one ever got to do since Alfred made sure no one went there. Then they made nuggets and watched a scary movie on the big screen in the manor's screening room, and while Jason's time was short, Selina was the closest thing to a mom for Jason and Jason loved having her around.

Now they were here again, jumping rooftops, a lot was still the same for Selina, but everything had changed for Jason but he didn't forget his time as Gotham or the fun he had with her. There was even a time when Bruce was getting serious about his relationship with Selina and both Alfred and Jason were sure he'd finally propose to her, with the ring he had in his desk's drawer for years now. When Bruce had invited her to the Wayne Enterprises gala, Jason couldn't contain his excitement, he hated galas, but if Selina was coming he was sure to have fun. The night ended with Jason sleeping in Selina's lap, after they sat and talked in the bacon looking out at the city. Jason still remembered how he peaked open his eyes to see Bruce walk towards them and shutting his eyes close when Bruce leaned in to kiss Selina, he remembered Bruce wrapping his hands around Selina sitting beside her and stroking Jason's hair, and at that moment, he had though that he'd finally found a real family, a mother and a father Jason never had.

Memories flashed through his mind as he chased her down Gotham, memories that he had forgotten, but they were still there, in the back of his mind, and he wouldn't admit it but he still wanted that family he wished as Robin.

Selina had stopped. She was just standing there now, not in a defensive position, she stood there relaxed. She was sweating, her face was all wet from sweats, so was her chest that peeked out from her half zipped costume. Jason didn't know why she had stopped, but he stood there watching her in silence as she calmed her breathe. He wasn't annoyed anymore. After a minute she smiled at him

"That was fun, I'm not used to being chased for so long without being caught or escaping, but you were allowing me to escape, weren't you?" Selina asked looking directly into Jason's face.

Jason sighed, taking off his helmet and then spoke "he told me to bring you in, I don't want to do that, so just go. I'll tell him you kicked my ass or something, wouldn't put it pass you to kick it anyway" he said with a sad smile on his face. He was trying to hide the pain, the pain that was rushing through him from those memories, he was perfectly fine an hour ago but seeing Selina again brought back a lot of desires and memories he had worked so hard to bury.

"Here" Selina said holding out the gem in her hand motioning him to take it, Jason watched her hand then her face in surprise then spoke "just like that?"

"Yup, I'll give you this one condition" she smiled holding tight grip on the stone. "You stay here until I get back, it'll only take a second" her smile was bright and honest, she wasn't lying. Jason took it from her nodding in return, and Selina jumped from the roof. He had agreed to stay here, so he stood, and waited. She wasn't coming back, it had been 10 minutes, but Jason still stayed put, one hand in his pocket where the gem was now and the other hand on his helmet tucked in his arm. He waited because he knew she wasn't standing him up or bailing on him, not when she had given up the gem stone. Seeing Selina after all these years was not helping Jason's mask at all, he knew he was happy to see her and she was too. He wasn't Bruce, who Selina still had feelings for, and Bruce was still the same with her, because they were eternal lovers, destined to do this forever, but Jason wasn't Bruce that Selina would try to manipulate or Dick that she'd trick. And even though Jason wasn't much younger than Dick, he knew Selina was more motherly with him than with Dick. He wouldn't have been surprised if someone told her Dick fell for her charm like Bruce often did.

After maybe another few minutes of waiting, Selina rejoined him on the roof, her zipper was now up and she was no longer wearing the mask or the goggles on her head, her sudden wardrobe readjustment was explained by two bags in her hand. She sat cross legged at the end of the roof facing the city and patting her side offering Jason to sit. After hesitating for a few seconds, he sat and neither of them spoke a word. She took out a burger from the paper bags and fries. Offering them to Jason and he took the burger from her. There was now a soft smile on his face, and a big one was Selina's showing her perfect teeth. She sat in silence mostly. After finishing Selina stood up, dusting her suit.

"This was nice" she said looking down at him.

"Felt like the old times, the boss still wouldn't approve" he retorted standing up.

"That never stopped us, did it" she asked narrowing her eye brows at him

"nope, it didn't" he agreed smiling genuinely, wearing his helmet

"So, see you around?" she asked turning around and Jason simply nodded "glad you're not dead baby bird. Stay sharp" she smiled one last time before leaving the roof and disappearing, and even though, Jason didn't plan this, and he was due to report back in with oracle and get back to the outlaws an hours ago, he didn't regret the evening as much as he thought he would. He ginned to himself one last time before turning to leave, instinctively placing a hand at his pocket to check on the Gem, but he should have known it was too easy to be real, and she was gone, the gem wasn't in his pocket even after checking twice, and Selina was gone, and all Jason could let out was "shit"


End file.
